HOMA-IR (insulin-resistance index)

A simple score from your fasting glucose and insulin that estimates how insulin-resistant you are.

What it measures

A calculated index (fasting glucose × fasting insulin ÷ 22.5) used as a proxy for insulin resistance.

Why it matters

It bundles glucose and insulin into one steady-state number. Lower means your cells respond well to insulin; higher points toward the insulin resistance that underlies type-2 diabetes and metabolic disease.

Healthy target

< 1.3

How to read your value

It’s a proxy, not a gold-standard test, and inherits the lab-to-lab variation of the insulin assay. Clinical insulin-resistance thresholds sit around 2.5; the longevity-optimal target is well below that.

What can affect it

• Everything that moves fasting glucose and insulin — diet, weight, activity, sleep

Does the target differ by age or sex?

Same target for men and women.

When to talk to a clinician

Use it as one input in a metabolic picture, interpreted with a clinician rather than in isolation.